The simmering situation between the team and Danielle Hunter concluded with a restructured contract & his arrival in Eagan. To keep Predator in the colors they'll have to get a new deal done a few months from now but depending on how Mond looks this year the team's money dispersion may change dramatically to aid such an extension.
That wasn't the only move they made, as they came to terms with Sheldon Richardson on a one-year deal to make the defensive line even more formidable!
There's a post coming soon related to it and more so not going to give away the farm right now, but suffice it to say that it was a great week for the Purple!!
The Herd's week began with a pair of schedule announcements. The ⚽️ team made it official that they will host several national brands at Dacotah Field while 🏈 shared everything except for the start times.
Not long after came a couple more nuggets, about some standout individuals!
Bennett Hostetler was named the Male Athlete of the Month while Akealy Moton got the distinction as well, without the distinction.
Then came the not-too-surprising announcement that Tod Brown has been hired by New Mexico. NDSU may be on the front end of great few years of ⚾️ but the opportunity to jump into a superior league doesn't come along every day & he wholly earned it!
Then came the premier performance of the week
At the Olympic trials in Eugene, OR Payton Otterdahl threw the rock better than he ever had in competition to make the three-man team bound for Tokyo. He wasn't the last to compete for a chance at the world stage but his accomplishment meant that the university would have a representative there for the third straight time, joining Amanda Smock & Erin Teschuk.
Not to make it a footnote but Parker Harm added one more accolade to his legacy ~ All-American! Whatever his professional future may hold, the school should already be preparing his hall-of-fame ceremony.
But before the bell tolled Eugene had one more for the locals.
Alex Talley didn't earn a spot alongside Otterdahl but he did improve upon his personal best with the "hammer" by more than 42 inches, setting a school record & finishing seventh when the weights were allowed to lay. Riley Dolezal will have the chance to join Team USA when the javelin finals happen Monday evening. They're putting the major in mid-major!
With the long-awaited lottery balls set to bounce on Tuesday Minnesota got a bit of unsurprising news this past week. Anthony Edwards was one of two rookies to be a unanimous choice for the All-Rookie team. Over the final 20 games of the season the team got a good glimpse of what he's capable of doing so it's just a bit of frosting for them. The announcement came on the heels of him being well short for rookie of the year which still seems like a contradiction, but the voters must have been that enamored with Lonzo Ball while not paying as close of attention down the stretch.
In any case, the announcements will hopefully become a footnote 48 hours from now!
The Birds started the week with their 8th player of the season joining a Major League organization, this time righty Blake Rogers was picked up by Arizona. That would be a great number if that's what they ended the season with. To have had that many appealing players in mid-June is exceptional! As was the other news that broke that day - 100% capacity is now possible again! Fully full games are far & away the exception but it's still great that anyone who wants to go can now get in.
Before the week was over they made one more move, trading outfielder Tyler Kelly to Idaho Falls for infielder Joe Hallock & and a player to be named. The roster reshuffle goes on and on.
As for the on-field action, they lost a midweek series to Chicago 2-1 and couldn't do better back at Newman against Sioux Falls, 2 - 1. Even with the losses they're still firmly affixed in the top three of the North division, for now.
All-State recognitions and State Tournament endeavors ruled the week on the prep level.
In addition to those, the All-Tournament ⚽️ team was announced
With only 4 of the 24 exiting high school the next few years will include a lot of talent!
That can also be said of the ⛳️ scene. In addition to the link, Moorhead sophomore Joe Kortan was one-shot better than his NDSU-bound teammate Ian Simonich at the AAA state tournament, finishing in a tie for fourth. Those two were joined by Park Christian, playing in the single A championship. Collectively the Falcons finished second with Emily Stueland (tied for first) & Madison Doeden having top-four outings.
Then came track & field
Moorhead's crop of competitors commenced by Evan Myran in the 3200M, finishing fifth. He then went in the 1600 but finished three spots lower. The 4x400 & 200 boys relays & 100 girls sprints each clocked in with the sixth-best times. The girls' 49.38 was the second best in Moorhead's history! That's a hard act to follow but Ellineus Davis had the chance with the discus, launching better than all but six throws. George Nyanforth was even better, taking fourth in the triple jump. Added together Moorhead's boys finished ninth on the team leaderboard out 69 teams.
D/G/F's Josh Finseth had a memorable time at the state meet as well, claiming the top step in the long jump, second best in the triple & fourth in the 400M! With a year of eligibility remaining he will have the chance to put himself in rare air!!
But the Tots weren't quite done
Their target shooting team had a pair of second place finishers to propel them to seventh out of 24! Whether it's a sport or not can be argued but those outcomes are too good to exclude.
Then, as the week neared it's ending, Eric Anderson continued his journey toward Olympic inclusion. He had another personal-best in the 50m freestyle but that left him a little more than a half-second behind the time needed to qualify for the next swims. At only 18 years old this will likely not be the last mention of him!
Which just leaves the all-star competition. On Monday the East 🏐 played host at West Fargo & the camera produced abundantly! Jumping to Saturday the 🏈 pads were pulled out one more time, with the East taking both the 11-man & 9-man games.
The women opened a three-game-weekend in St. Paul but lost by a touchdown, 6-0. They were back on the field today while the men had a home game Saturday against St. Louis Park based Joy A.C.. Jack Pascoe slipped one by the goalie in the second half, which proved to be the deciding score of the game, 1-0.
The women finished the weekend in Mankato, going score-for-score with the United well into the first half but then the dam broke. Kato finished ahead 1 - 9.
A packed week on the diamond began with Post 400 getting by Watertown 9 - 5 thanks to strong contributions by Eli & Andy Mack. On the riverside Post 2 took care of Moorhead 8 - 5 with a 3 hit, 2 run evening by Caden Headlee. D/G/F had a double-header against Detroit Lakes losing game 1, 1 - 5 but managing the split 5 - 3.
Post 2 was back on the field for two against Mandan. They took care of the first, 8 - 0 but then got a taste of it, losing 8 - 1. Headlee & Will Bachman each had 3 RBIs in the win. Moorhead got back on the field against Grand Forks but finished on the wrong end of an 8 - 5 score. D/G/F capitalized on five Barnesville errors by scoring 10 while Kaden Altobelli spun a three-hit shutout.
The Deuce traveled to South Dakota for a few days, opening with a 6 - 5 win over Chanhassen in which Headlee went 3-4 with 5 ribs while Dylan Erholtz had a complete game on the mound. The aforementioned offensive standout is giving a glimpse of what he will bring to Bismarck State's offense.
Moorhead had their next chance against Wayzata but were knocked down 10-4. P400 also finished down, against Lincoln+ 9 - 7.
D/G/F had the next interstate games, against Casselton. Owen Hoover's RBI single in the eighth gave them a 7 - 6 win while they finished game two in five, 9 - 5.
In SoDak P2 beat Brandon Valley 8 - 5, this time it was Adam Leininger carrying the majority of the offense: 4-4, a HR, 4 RBI & a run. They kept it rolling later in the day against Sioux Falls. Thomas Simon threw a nine-strikeout complete game while Headlee jumped back into the driver's seat for the offense: 2 runs & 4 RBIs.
The 400 had their own great Saturday beating West Central 14 - 0 & Orono 8 - 5. Sunday wasn't quite as positive because the weather forced a 1-1 tie against Brookings which handed Lincoln the pool championship.
West Fargo got Wayzata next but couldn't find the magic losing 11 - 1 & 1 - 0.
Kindred closed the Dakota Classic against Huron & pulled off a 9-8 win after losing 10 - 2 to Shakopee, 4 - 3 against Creighton Prep & 10 - 3 to Harrisburg.
Post 2 had a chance to win their pool but Gretna (NE) held them off 11 - 6.
Moorhead closed out the week with a single at West Fargo. Both teams brought their own heat on a cool evening, 21 - 13 in favor of the visitors.
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